Only the Strong Survive
by Lady Inanis
Summary: Rayne D'Shall, alias 'Inferna', has been captured by the Rikti in their latest invasion on Paragon City. This was originally written as a class project, and I never took the bibliography out. Please ignore it.


Only the Strong Survive

Prologue

_It was never a good sign when the skies darkened to a sickening green, and the warning alarms sounded throughout the entire city. This meant the Rikti (7) were coming, once again, to take their chances on successfully invading Paragon City (6). Hundreds of superheroes, both active and retired, would rise to the occasion to push the aliens back, and save their home. Every superhero knew that this day could very well be their last, but still they fought, risking life and limb for each other, and the citizens of the city. Only the bravest stood in defense of Paragon city. Only the strongest survived. _

_The Rikti first invaded January 1__st__, 2000, at midnight, 'Y2K', the year the world screamed Armageddon. Everyone suspected something with computers would happen, when the clocks rolled over from ninety-nine to double zero, years of data being lost with no way to recover it. As it were, rushed preparations were made worldwide, to save the data, and implement software that engineers promised would work, that no one paid any attention to the distant star hurtling itself towards Earth. _

_The world then saw destruction only movies and books had depicted, when every major city, in every country, was hit with these beings from outer space. Their appearances so terrifying, no nightmare could compare. Tall, slender creatures with onyx eyes, three fingers on each hand, a sharp toothed mouth, turned down like the snout of an ant-eater, and large fanned foreheads, fell from the sky landing on the surface of Earth. Battle armor, more technologically advanced than anything Earth had ever seen, covered their pale bodies, a variety of spiked shoulder armor, gauntlets over their forearms, and helmets covering their heads stared into the terrified faces of humans around the world. In their hands, large energy blasting weapons pointed at the human race, firing remorselessly, destroying life as we knew it. The Rikti War had began, the outcome so uncertain that many pre-cognitive seers lost their lives in their attempts to see the future of Earth._

_It was discovered these beings communicated telepathically, invading the minds of all who resisted them, enslaving humans and taking them to a grounded battleship in the White Plains. Prisoners of war were never heard from again, countless lives were lost, and billions of dollars in property damage had been done in the first wave of the war. Only a small portion of the Rikti numbers depleted, as they outnumbered the humans ten to one. A faction was started, quickly after the first wave, enlisting super heroes and villains, calling themselves the Vanguard (12). In the White Plains, now known as the Rikti War Zone (8), villains and heroes must set aside their differences, and fight together against a common enemy. A security level restriction was placed on the area, heavily guarded by the Vanguard's elite, to keep the unprepared, and non-super humans from entering the dangerous area. Research and development was made, as quickly as the first energy gun, and Rikti corpse was brought to the Vanguard compound, as Earth's technology was advanced using the invader's knowledge against them. War walls were put up, separating Paragon City and the Rogue Isles (9), as a whole, into smaller sections so when the Rikti invaded it would only in a small area, as opposed to an entire city. _

July 17th, 2009

Weary eyes opened, as a pained groan escaped from her mouth. Her head throbbed, dry lips tasting the coppery flavor of blood on her tongue, every muscle clenching in agonizing pain. She could feel her body was in an upright position, arms spread, feet together, in a crucifix. Arms and ankles were bound by binders, as she floated just above a zero gravity cylinder, a thin blue-green field, similar to the war walls of Paragon City, went around her body, keeping her contained in a cell. Half slumped over, a metal band around her waist, she focused in on two pairs of tubes that ran from her temples and neck, down to this band around her bare mid-section. A fuzzy mind wondered how long she had been here, as she struggled to recall the exact events that had landed her here.

A pair of feet shuffled, drawing blue eyes up and out, watching a Rikti alien come into view, standing just on the other side of the energy cell that held her here. It wore no armor, nor wielded a weapon. Its skin appeared whiter than she had ever seen on one of them, simply because it was in a much more suited environment for itself, as opposed to when it was on the surface of Earth. Beady black eyes peered in at her, as her blue orbs stared, lethargically, at it. Suddenly, a stabbing pain went through her mind, her hoarse throat screaming in protest, as the Rikti linked itself with her.

"Subject: Alive. Your Efforts: Pointless. Hopeless. Pathetic. Painful Termination: Willingly provided." It was like listening to a recorded voice of Stephen Hawking, the way the alien spoke. "Subject Identification: Rayne D'Shall. Subject Alias: Inferna."

It knew who she was! Inferna took her first realized breath, parting dry lips to speak, immediately interrupted by the Rikti. "Vocal attempt: Useless. Mental voice: Loud. Strong. Character Health: Deteriorating. Victory: Impossible. Character Status: Prisoner. Personal observation: Happy." The Rikti left her sight, despair falling over Inferna's emotions as she hung in her restraints. Memories of the invasion that made her a prisoner filled her head.

She was sitting outside the Architect Entertainment building; a training organization that provided holographic enemies. It was a place super powered people went to hone their abilities. Her lover, Truth 'Eddie' Edwards, alias 'True Fear', sat behind her, her back against his chest, both of them taking a break from their daily training regimens. The day was beautiful, with a cloudless blue sky, and a cool breeze coasting through the air. For weeks, the two of them had been trying to plan a night out together, always interrupted by the call of duty, always forced to put their emotions for each other aside for the greater good. This night would be the first night Inferna could say she was, for sure, going to have dinner with the man she loved.

Eddie had been her best friend, since they were teenagers, the two of them getting into more trouble than a person could shake a stick at. Only a tragic event caused their painful, yet temporary, separation when she was sixteen, losing the boy she considered to be her best friend, and first crush, to the seduction of evil. Three years later, through a raid on the downed battleship in Rikti War Zone, the two were reunited, only she fought for the forces of good, and he fought for the forces of evil. Eddie had thought her dead, from a nasty run in with Lord Recluse (5), the self-proclaimed leader of the Rogue Isles, and lost his humanity, succumbing to the demands of Arachnos. Only, when he found out she was alive, and well, did he switch sides, attaching himself to her, with promises to never let anyone hurt her again.

He was a giant, compared to her, standing at a huge eight feet, five inches tall, with broad shoulders, dark hair, and dark eyes. Eddie, in Inferna's eyes, was the epitome of 'tall, dark, and handsome'. Inferna, affectionately referred to as 'Fern' by all who knew her, stood at an average height of five feet, two inches, and a petite one-hundred and twenty pounds. Her fire engine red hair cropped short, to her chin, and oceanic blue eyes had turned heads since she were a little girl. The two of them were complete opposites in everything, yet none of that mattered when it came to matters of the heart. He was her protector, and she his little spitfire.

"Do we have to go back in there? It's too beautiful, out here, to be inside that building all day." Fern protested the scheduled training sessions with a soft laugh, lacing her fingers with his, her small body curled against him. "We could always go to Founder's Falls, and have lunch in William's Square, by the fountain." Her accent was heavy, originating from Ireland, though she had been in the United States her entire life.

He chuckled, smiling fondly down at the woman he lived and breathed for. A gentle giant's hand ran over the brilliant red hair, stroking the silken strands lovingly, kissing the crown of her head. "We can do whatever you want, love. All that matters is the fact that I am with you." Eddie spoke softly, though she knew he could be bellowing loud, if he needed to be, the country boy dialect on his tongue, as a native of Kansas.

Her body shifted, turning towards him, sitting up on her knees, hands in the grass, and leaning forward for a kiss, when a communication device on her belt began to beep incessantly. All of the registered homo-superiors had one, a way of getting information to them quickly, much like regular cell phones and pagers. Her kissy face turned to a pout, knowing that 'work' was calling, and she had better answer. Fern didn't even have time to see much more, than the word 'Vanguard' on the sent list, when the skies went from that beautiful shade of blue, to that horrid green. "Fern…" Eddie said to her, she only nodding her head, knowing that the message sent read the exact words: Rikti Ships have been spotted flying over Atlas Park (1). Non-combatants are advised to seek shelter immediately. Eddie was towering over her now, the warning alarms making a loud ruckus through the entire city, people were running for the nearest building, desperately trying to get out of the line of fire, and heroes of all types were heading for Atlas Square, where they would converge to take their stand against the invaders. "Fern, move!" Eddie shouted, grabbing the kneeling woman by her waist, hoisting her into his arms, moving as fast as lightning to clear the area they were occupying, as a triangular shaped object, a Rikti bomb, dropped onto the ground, the alien drop ships moving through the city in the first wave of the invasion, shooting anything, or anyone, who came near it.

Inferna stood with her eyes ablaze, literately, as her body engulfed in flames, and three small fire controlled imps rose from the ground. Eddie looked down on her, watching her go from loving woman, to a warrior to be feared. The temperature around them increased significantly, due to her ability to control, manipulate, and command fire.

The duo became a trio, then a quartet, quickly multiplying into a team of eight heroes at Inferna and True Fear's side. True nodded at them, knowing the formed team to be Inferna's personally chosen team of heroes that fought beside her, as members of the Vanguard. In the Vanguard, being a General, and one of five individuals who the Vanguard believed to be honorable enough to lead hundreds of heroes in a raid on the battleship in Rikti War Zone, Inferna took her job seriously, when the Rikti invaded a peaceful suburb of Paragon City. True Fear nodded to each of them, acknowledging their existences. Jason, alias 'Crom', a battle axe wielding powerhouse that was protected by fire shields. Lady, a healer who could take more than a punch before she was knocked down, hovered in flight over the group of heroes. Scott, alias Double-oh-three, Inferna's right hand man, shimmered into sight, allowing everyone to see the twin blades in his hands, and cybernetic arms that held them. Steve McGarrett, a private detective who had fallen into the line of superhero work when he discovered he was as strong as a hundred men. Kemen Elen stamped her foot on the ground, shaking the earth a bit, as the ground split open, and a earthen creature crawled from it, coming to her side. Finally, Lacey, alias Voltage, made a grand entrance by materializing in front of them, using a lightning bolt to travel around, the static electricity crackling and popping around her. Combined with Inferna and True Fear, not much had a chance of stopping them.

"Orders?" Crom asked the one worded question, his battle axe in his hand, tossing it expertly between his left and right hand.

"We meet the Rikti, and remind them why it is never a good idea to invade Paragon City." Fern gave her orders, taking off from the group, joining the rest of the gathering heroes in Atlas Square.

The battle raged on, as Rikti teleported onto the ground, from the drop ships, firing their energy weapons at anyone in their path. Heroes grouped into one large mass, covering each other's backs, the tension increasing with every wave of invaders that dropped from the sky. Inferna and her team worked as they always did, aiding one another, while at the same time fighting off the Rikti. Kemen's earth controlled cages keeping the Rikti in place, while Inferna's smoke clouds blinded them, as her imps burned the aliens alive. Crom, True Fear, and Steve McGarrett pooled their powerful bodies together, taking hit after hit, variably becoming unstoppable tanks, as Voltage shocked and electrocuted them all with powerful electricity controlled powers, and Double-oh-three slit their alien throats, as they writhed in nervous electrocution. All the while, Lady hovered above them all, covering as many fighting heroes as she could with her healing powers, freeing anyone she saw who was stunned from one of the energy guns, or resurrecting the fallen.

Everything was going as well as any invasion could, when all of a sudden the Lord of War, himself, Hro'Dtohz (4) dropped in on the heroes. He was the one the Rikti mental network turned to in their darkest hour, and the one who organized the new military and the war against Earth. Proclaimed Arch-villain on Earth, and aside from Master at Arms, U'kon Gr'ai (11), the most feared of the Rikti race. Hro'Dtohz's eyes settled on Inferna and her team, a flanking army behind him, as he reached out and grabbed the woman by her arm. "Target: Aquired. Victory: Certain. Second wave: Attack!" The Lord of War spoke, pulling Inferna into a portal that would take them back to where he came from, her team having no time to cock an arm, raise a sword, or fire a lightning bolt to stop him.

Against her will, Inferna rested in her binds, tears coming from her eyes, knowing she had lost the battle, that her number was up, and the possibility of survival was very low. No one had ever returned from being held captive by the Rikti, and she had seen, firsthand, what their experiments did to those who were captured. Hero One, the hero who was sent to the Rikti homeworld and successfully destroyed the bridge between their world and Earth, came to her mind. They had twisted him into a bloodthirsty fiend who called himself 'The Honoree'(10). But, she knew she had to try to escape. Her will to live would not let her die without a fight.

Waiting, for what seemed like hours, Inferna played opossum, biding her time until the Rikti scientists came to retrieve her. Pulling her from the zero-gravity cylinder, they hauled her to a room that reminded her of triangular honeycombs made of metal, roughly tossing her onto an examination table. Poked and prodded, Inferna was subject to their experiments, their mental capabilities digging into her fragile human mind, ripping it apart, as they learned everything about her, and the people she loved most. Weak and feeling like she was dying, fatigued eyes rolling around, her head lolling from side to side, she spied hope hanging off the belt of a Rikti scientist. Three acquired syringes she, and rest of the hero and villain population, used to get out of sticky situations. Each one did a different thing: the yellow colored syringe made a person more accurate, the blue giving, effectively, an adrenaline rush, and the light purple boosting the immune system for a short period of time, making one more resistant to a variety of metal attacks. Inferna knew she had to have these syringes, as she forced herself to focus, and ignore the pain coursing through her body.

Digging into her soul, something people said happened when one was most desperate, she found more than a will to live, but a way. The temperature of her body began to rise, frying the circuits of the restraint on her waist. This alerted the scientists, who removed it promptly, and as one of them leaned over to put another over her skin, her eyes light ablaze, a fire ball forming in her hand and shoving it into the face of the alien. Burning through the straps that held her down, the examination table engulfing in the fire she created, Inferna sprung from her captors. Pulling the tubes from her neck and temples, watching as they melted in her hand, she thrust her arms forward, encasing the scientists in rings of fire. Pulling up the three fire imps, bound to her soul, she commanded them to attack. The one Rikti that held her syringes cowered in fear, as she came to him, wrapping her hand around his throat, choking him mercilessly, pulling the syringes from his possession, and into hers. Injecting herself with the blue colored syringe, she felt the adrenaline course through her veins, boosting her every move, as she dashed from the room, intent on finding her way out.

In her opinion, if you had seen one Rikti ran cavern, battleship, or hive, you had seen them all. The only difference being the way they were laid out. This one happen to be a hive, where hundreds, maybe thousands, of Rikti lived. Fighting them all was not an option, deciding it would be best to speed through the place, as fast as she could, until she found her way out. Every turn, in every corridor, a patrol of Rikti, or a group of Rikti waited for her, and they all seemed to be ready for her. Squads of invaders raised their guns, swords, or fists to fight her back into submission, but she could not, and would not yield.

Minutes seemed like hours, the more she tried to find her way out, her adrenaline rush wearing off quickly, knowing that once it did, she may not have a prayer of making it out alive. Every corridor looked the same, and every Rikti seemed to be a twin of the one who stood next to it. Her glimmer of hope was quickly fading, the adrenaline almost gone, as she felt herself returning to her pained and weakened state, when out of nowhere, the group that bared it teeth down on her fell subject to a nervous shocked state. Electricity crackled and popped, and a war cry of yells sounded through the corridor, as Inferna barely saw the image of her team, plus one she had never seen before, come rolling through, like a hurricane. Within seconds, the Rikti who almost had Inferna were dead, their green blood pooling on the floor, and True Fear gathering Inferna into his arms as she fell unconscious from the adrenaline crash.

When she woke up, the surroundings she found herself in were all too good to be true. She had been brought to her home, placed in her bed, with True Fear sitting on the edge of her bed, his hand holding hers, the large thumb stroking over the backs of her fingers. "Thought I almost lost you, love." He spoke to her, seeing her awake, and leaning down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "You're going to be okay. Lady says you should be up and causing trouble, again, in a few weeks."

"How did you find me?" Inferna asked in a quiet voice, her attempts rewarded with a glass of water, with a straw in it, held by Eddie's large hand.

"Willpower, beautiful. Sheer, raw willpower." He said back to her, letting her drink for a moment, before placing the glass on the table beside the bed. "Crom, actually, is the one who found you. Apparently, in all of the Vanguard communicators, there is a tracking device. We were able to 'convince' a prisoner Rikti into opening a portal to where you were, in exchange for his freedom."

"And the girl I saw with you?"

"Laila? She is merely a stand-in, while you are recovering. An amazing telepath, that one. She is the reason we made it as far as we did, into the Riki hive. She confused them all into thinking they were each other's enemies." Kissing her hand, twice, and her forehead again, he stood from the bedside, and pulled a blanket over her, laying her childhood teddy bear into the crook of her arm, to give her a creature comfort. "Rest, now. The media, and Vanguard Operative, Lady Grey, wish to speak with you once you are feeling better. You are the first person to make it out of a Rikti prison, and live to tell about it."

"I couldn't have done it, had you and the others not shown up."

Eddie smiled, pulling the blinds on the windows closed, to darken the room some more. "You think I would have let you die there? C'mon now, I lost you once, and I promised I would never lose you again." Never would he tell her that she had made it to the doors of the Rikti hive, all of fifty feet from the entrance, when they showed up. She deserved the recognition she was going to get, and no words, or thoughts would ever be able to express how proud of her he was.

Epilogue 

_Inferna stood on the platform of Point Du Hoc's, a troop rally point in Rikti War Zone, dressed in customized silver and red Vanguard armor. Heroes and villains, alike, came in from all sides, rallying to a call she had sent out over the Vanguard communicators, asking for aid in taking on the downed battleship. A decorated war hero, now General of the Army, Inferna looked at heroes of old, and heroes of new, appreciating the rapid response she was getting. Her personal team, now including Laila, led their own teams for this raid on the battleship, organizing what was going to be the first of many attempts to take the war to the Rikti's turf. The time to attack was soon, and many super powered individuals looked upon her for direction._

_"First of all, I want to thank you all for coming to aid in the cause. This means so much to the Vanguard, and the world, to know that so many brave souls are willing to risk their lives for a greater cause. I have seen what they can do, first hand, and know that they are intent on wiping us out of existence, claiming our Earth as their own. We cannot let this happen. We cannot allow invaders to succeed in taking what does not belong to them. For those of you who have seen the devastation these creatures can cause, you already know what you are up against. For those of you who have never experienced war, now is your chance to make your mark on society. You are the hope brought to every citizen of Paragon City, and the Rogue Isles. You are what is going to allow life, as we know it, to continue. You are what is going to make the difference if we even have a tomorrow. I ask you all to stand, beside me, as my equal, as my ally, and fight the Rikti, in honor of those who have lost their lives and died by their hands. I ask you to remember that there is hope, even in our darkest hour. I ask you to help me bring the Rikti their darkest hour. Let them see that the Vanguard, the City of Heroes, and the City of Villains is not going to stand for this kind of threat, and we will stop at nothing to see to their extinction, as they would see to ours. Will you stand and fight?"_

_The crowd before her responded in a howl of battle cries, and approving applaud. The time had come, finally, to take the war to the Rikti. Pride and joy beamed through Inferna, as she looked upon those she trusted most, smiling to the people who had come to her aid, when she needed it most. Super powered people, of every shape, and every size put on a display of their powers, waiting for the word to begin the attack to be talked about for years to come._

Bibliography

1. Atlas Park. August 2009.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Atlas_Park

2. City of Heroes. December 2004.

August 28, 2009. .org/wiki/City_of_Heroes

3. City of Villains. October 8, 2005.

August 28, 2009. .org/wiki/City_of_Villains

4. Hro'Dtohz. June 27, 2007.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Hro%27Dtohz

5. Lord Recluse. March 22, 2006.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Lord_Recluse

6. Paragon City. October 9, 2005.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Paragon_City

7. Rikti. February 5, 2006.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Rikti

8. Rikti War Zone. February 5, 2006.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Rikti_War_Zone

9. Rogue Isles. August 13, 2006.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Rogue_Isles

10. The Honoree. June 27, 2007.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/The_Honoree

11. U'kon Gr'ai. June 27, 2007.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/U%27Kon_Gr%27ai

12. Vanguard. June 27, 2007.

August 28, 2009. .com/wiki/Vanguard


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